KIRKUS REVIEW

The provocative author of The White Boy Shuffle (1996)
and Slumberland (2008) is back with his most penetratingly
satirical novel yet.

Beatty has never been afraid to stir the pot when it comes to
racial and socioeconomic issues, and his latest is no different. In fact, this
novel is his most incendiary, and readers unprepared for streams of racial
slurs (and hilarious vignettes about nearly every black stereotype imaginable)
in the service of satire should take a pass. The protagonist lives in Dickens,
“a ghetto community” in Los Angeles, and works the land in an area called “The
Farms,” where he grows vegetables, raises small livestock and smokes a ton of
“good weed.” After being raised by a controversial sociologist father who
subjected him to all manner of psychological and social experiments, the
narrator is both intellectually gifted and extremely street-wise. When Dickens
is removed from the map of California, he goes on a quest to have it reinstated
with the help of Hominy Jenkins, the last surviving Little Rascal, who hangs
around the neighborhood regaling everyone with tales of the ridiculously racist
skits he used to perform with the rest of the gang. It’s clear that Hominy has
more than a few screws loose, and he volunteers to serve as the narrator’s
slave—yes, slave—on his journey. Another part of the narrator’s plan involves
segregating the local school so that it allows only black, Latino and other
nonwhite students. Eventually, he faces criminal charges and appears in front
of the Supreme Court in what becomes “the latest in a long line of landmark
race-related cases.” Readers turned off by excessive use of the N-word or those
who are easily offended by stereotypes may find the book tough going, but fans
of satire and blatantly honest—and often laugh-out-loud funny—discussions of
race and class will be rewarded on each page. Beatty never backs down, and
readers are the beneficiaries.

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